Portrait of the Princes Camillo and Francesco Borghese 1778

Giuseppe Cades’s 1778 portrait of the Princes Camillo and Francesco Borghese is a delicate and charming portrayal of the two young brothers. The princes, dressed in the finery of their time, are presented with natural informality. The elder brother, Camillo, stands and holds a piece of paper with a building design, perhaps referencing the family's patron of the arts. The younger, Francesco, sits, looking at the viewer with wide, curious eyes. Their youthful energy is captured by Cades in a sensitive and engaging way. This drawing, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, provides an intimate glimpse into the lives of the young Borghese princes.